Washington/ New Delhi: The White House announced on Monday it will no longer grant sanctions exemptions to Iran’s oil customers, in a bid to squeeze the Islamic republic’s top export.
“President Donald J Trump has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) when they expire in early May,” the administration said in a statement. “This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.”
May not hit supplies : India is studying the implications of the US decision to end waivers granted to it along with seven other countries to buy Iranian oil without facing sanctions, government sources said. The move could have implications on India’s energy security as India is the second biggest buyer of Iranian oil.
In November, the US granted a six-month waiver to India, China, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to continue importing oil from Iran. The temporary waiver ends on May 2. “We have seen the announcement by the US Secretary of State. We are studying the implications of the decision and will make a statement at an appropriate time,” said a source.
In the wake of the new development, India, has lined up alternate sources to make up for the likely shortfall in supplies after the US decided not to give waiver from its sanctions for buying oil from the Persian Gulf nation. “Our crude sources are wide. We have alternate sources lined up to make up for any shortfall,” a top source said. US
President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and revived a range of sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation. Iran denounces US sanctions as ‘illegal’: Iran denounced US sanctions on its oil sector as “illegal” Monday after the United States announced it will no longer grant exemptions to Tehran’s oil customers.
“Since the sanctions in question are principally illegal, the Islamic Republic of Iran did not and does not attach any value or credibility to the waivers,” the foreign ministry said on its official website. Iraq ‘ready’ to boost crude exports Iraq is ready to boost oil exports by 250,000 barrels a day to compensate for any shortfalls once US sanctions waivers for Iranian oil end, a government official said.
